


Bad Reputation

by moonliqht



Category: IT (2017), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Bad Boy!Richie, Bullying, Flirting, Fluff, How Do I Tag, Internalized Homophobia, Light Angst, M/M, My First Fanfic, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Richie Tozier & Stanley Uris Are Best Friends, Richie Tozier is a Little Shit, Sonia Kaspbrak's A+ Parenting, be gentle please, smut later on
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-26
Updated: 2019-11-08
Packaged: 2020-10-28 10:43:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,020
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20777261
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moonliqht/pseuds/moonliqht
Summary: Eddie is the new kid at Derry High and Richie takes a particular interest in him. Eddie is wary of him because he stands for everything his mom warns him against.Aka Richie is a bad boy and he enjoys toying with the new boy, Eddie.





	1. Chapter 1

If Eddie needed to pull out his inhaler now would be the time. He is standing outside of his homeroom waiting to be introduced to the class. Today is his first day at Derry High School and he doesn’t get why this has to be such a big deal. Who is the fuck makes a kid stand in front of a class? This is bullshit.

If only his mom hadn’t forced him to enroll halfway through the goddamn year. He was fine at his last school. If only his stupid teacher didn’t say anything about the kids in his class. It was never anything too bad. It was just rude comments and he only got pushed around when they were having a bad day. It was his fault anyway for being so vulnerable. 

Eddie’s palms began to sweat as he thought of all the ways that his introduction could go wrong. What if he messes his name up and looks like a complete lo-

“Eddie you may come in now.” Eddie’s rampant thoughts were interrupted by his teacher and Eddie went wide-eyed. This was his time to not royally fuck anything up. He needs to have a good year so he needs to come off as not too much of a loner loser.

So, he began his walk into the front of the room and immediately felt all eyes on him. He looked around and saw some weird and ugly ass high schoolers.

As to be expected he heard murmurs throughout the class by his new peers and he started to panic. Instead of continuing his assessment of the class he looked down quickly. His teacher then started to speak up again with a cough,

“Settle down now kids. We have a new student with us and his name is Edward Kas- I’m sorry how do you pronounce this?” He looked at Eddie and once again all eyes were on him.

He looked at Eddie, “I-It’s Kaspbrak, sir. Also, I go by Eddie.” His voice cracked a bit at the beginning. Eddie cringed a little at himself.

“Well, Mr. Kaspbrak let’s find a seat for you.” He glazed over the classroom and spotted an empty seat in the middle of the back row.

“You can sit right over there Eddie near him. Richard wave your hand for Eddie.”

A darkly dressed boy with messy hair raised his hand slowly and rolled his head forward, “Stop calling me Richard you old man.”

The class let out giggles, but the teacher was having none of it, “I will call you whatever I please Tozier so if you have anything else to say then I suggest you running it up with the principal.”

The boy sighed dramatically and waved his hand around looking at Eddie. 

“You coming over here or what?” He made eye contact with Eddie and look him up and down slowly. 

Eddie clenched his bookbag strap and made his way through the rows of desks to sit in front of the Tozier boy.

Class resumed as normal, but just as Eddie was beginning to feel comfortable he felt a kick to his desk. He looked back to see the boy behind him hitting one of his chair legs.

“Can I help you?” Eddie said.

The boy locked eyes with him then looked Eddie up and down again, “Just wanted to introduce myself to the new kid is all. I’m Richie.”

Eddie sighed and looked back at the teacher anxiously, “This isn’t the best time to be talking. Don’t you need to be paying attention?” 

“How could I possibly pay attention when I have a fun and distracting thing right in front of me now, hm?” He licked his lips and Eddie pretended like he didn’t notice.

With a roll of his eyes, he replied, “I am neither of those things and you don’t even know me so stop talking and start paying attention.” He could not go around talking to people like that. If word got around that he was talking to a boy that looks like he is part of a biker gang then his mom would have a fit. He can’t let that happen.

This Richie boy was bad news. He dressed in black layers with a dark jacket that was littered with patches and pins. His hair was curly and honestly looked like a mop to Eddie. So he turned around and began to tune back into what his teacher was saying.

As soon as he turned Richie started to tap on his chair legs with both of his feet. It shook Eddie’s desk a bit, but he held his tongue. He had all day to deal with and he could not break the first period. 

He put up with Richies tapping and bolted out of his seat when the bell rang. Eddie seemed to have a sticker on his head that said  _ New Kid Please Stare  _ because everyone was staring daggers at him. He started to feel a little overwhelmed so he managed to spot a bathroom to hide out in for a second.

Once he got into a stall he pulled his inhaler out of his fanny pack and took a deep breath. When his breathing became steady once again he made his way to the sink. There was a boy with tight curly hair that stood in front of the sink next to him. Eddie looked up and saw the kid staring back at him through the mirror and he smiled. 

The boy gave a light laugh and turned to Eddie while leaning on the wall comfortably, “Aren’t you that new kid? Because you don’t look that familiar. Everyone is talking about you. Though, I wouldn’t be too worried you’ll blend in soon enough.”

“Yeah, I feel like people have been ogling me all morning…” Eddie wiped off his hands with a paper towel and dropped it in the trash can, looking back at the kid.

“Yeah, I’m sure. Well, I’m Stanley, but you can call me Stan. I know you may not want to, but you can sit with my friends and I at lunch!” Stanley spoke as Eddie looked back at him and smiled.

“Dude that’d be awesome! Thanks so much, I don’t know anyone here so that takes the stress out of one period at the least.” Eddie smiled and waved at Stanley as he began to walk out of the bathroom, “I’ll see you later then Stan!”

Stan said goodbye as Eddie left and he shortly followed after heading to his second-period class. 

-

Two periods later Eddie found himself walking towards the lunchroom filled with loud kids. He looked around not knowing where Stan was, but then a hand waving in the back corner of the room caught his eye. He grinned and quickly walked over to his new friend.

“Hi Stan! Are these your friends?” Eddie smiled and looked at the table of boys all staring at him. Stan sat down and motioned for Eddie to sit next to him as well. 

As they sat Stan spoke, “Yeah this is my gang” The boys around them giggled and one spoke up.

“Who put you in charge? Last time I checked you weren’t our leader.” Stan laughed and looked around.

“Oh hush Mike! I’m older than all of you! Anyways, Eddie, that’s Mike, and this is Bill and Ben,” Bill raised his hand and awkwardly smiled, “H-Hopefully they d-don’t scare you o-off too fast.” Eddie laughed and nodded his head.

They fell into a comfortable conversation after some playful banter. Eddie pulled out his lunch and started to eat his ham and cheese sandwich. These kids seemed like a good bunch. Although a part of him does miss his banter with his old friends. His face dropped and he set his sandwich down and sighed.

“Hey, you okay Eddie?” They all looked at him and he scratched his neck nervously. 

“Uhm yeah, I’m just thinking about being here ya know? I-I’m nervous I’m not gonna ever blend it and forever be that  _ one kid.”  _

Ben smiled and said, “Yeah I get that! I was the new kid last year for my sophomore year and no one knew my name until I met these guys! My name was probably new kid for months…” That gave Eddie hope but also made him worried. Will people seriously treat him the same? 

“D-Don’t say that d-dude! E-Eddie I’m sure you’ll b-blend in just f-fine.” Bill pushed Ben’s shoulder. 

Ben shook his head, “That’s not what I meant and you know it. Hey, so how’d you end up here anyway? Parents divorce? Are you some secret delinquent that was forced to switch schools because you fucked up some kid?” Ben laughed at his own joke, but Eddie swallowed.

Eddie’s brows furrowed, “Why would you say that? No of c-

“Of course not! Eds wouldn’t hurt a soul. Doesn’t even look like his little arms could smack a bitch if he needed to.”

Eddie swings his head around after being rudely interrupted for the second time that day. 

Richie leaned down and pouted in Eddie’s face, “Awh little Eds I didn’t know you were interested in my group here… If you wanted to see me again you could’ve asked!”

He scoffed, “Don’t call me Eds.” He couldn’t believe this kid and turned to his new lunch buddies. “Wait you guys know him?”

They nodded but Stanley spoke first, “Hell yeah, Richie is one of my long-time friends. I think you two will get along! He’s not too bad I promise.” He smiled and waved at Richie to sit down. 

“Yeah I’m sure,” Richie said as he sat down right next to Eddie. Eddie rolled his eyes and sighed, trying not to make a big deal. That is until Richie started bumping his leg with Eddies underneath the table. 

“Ugh fuck!” Eddie violently cursed and glared at Richie. It was so annoying but could have been worse. Not like he was going to say anything anyways. No one seemed to notice their little strife though. 

Richie giggled. He actually fucking  _ giggled, _ “That’s what your mom was saying last night when I-

“Ew God Richie shut up! That’s disgusting and disrespectful!” Eddie won’t make it a month at this school if this unruly delinquent keeps this shit up. It’s gonna be a long year. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi I am back! the response I got on my first chapter was insane!! like what the heck oh my goodness.. I really hope you guys like this chapter, and also,, pft this fic was inspired by the song Bad Reputation by JOAN JETT haha not Taylor Swift, but I am guessing they have similar meaning?

Eddie had fallen into a comfortable schedule with his new school and friends. He ended up having his first and last class with Richie. He wouldn’t mind it if Richie didn’t tease and poke him as much as he did. So in short he started and ended his day with the lunatic. He was always joking about Eddie’s mom and he didn’t wish to think about her during his day. He had enough of her at home. 

When he arrived home from his first day of school, his mom checked all his limbs to make sure he wasn’t “sick”. Eddie wasn’t too sure on how she could tell if he was sick, but she always insisted on him taking whatever she gave him. He was a good son and even if his mom was annoying at times he wanted to do as he was told. 

He switched schools just because his mom wanted to get away from the kids that bullied Eddie. A shiver went through his body at the thought of those kids. The names he got called, and when he would try and hide the bruises he got away from his mom. 

His excuses for his bumps and bruises were that he tripped on his laces which prompted his mom to buy him a new pair of shoes immediately. That was probably the only good thing about those days. 

His first day at Derry was already so much better than the two and a half years he spent at his old school. He liked the kids he talked to as well, but he wasn’t going to tell his mom about them just yet. She would very well call all of their parents to see what illnesses they have had in the past and if they have good grades or not. 

Eddie was never allowed to have many friends and those who stuck around ran off when they found out about how weird his mother was. It got frustrating, but it made him that much better at lying and hiding his life at home. He figured that no one needed to know so he wouldn’t let out a peep about it to his new friends. 

He laid in bed and pulled his covers over his head and sighed. He went over all of his classes in his head again. First period was his Government class with Richie and he wasn’t all that excited to start his day like that. 

Then he had Gym with him at the end of the day. It wasn’t that he was bad at sports, but mostly because he’s absolute shit at them. He really wasn’t looking forward to hearing Richie laugh at him. It was already going to be embarrassing enough. He could only hope Richie wasn’t all that bad. He laid there in bed dozing off thinking about his new friends and school only hoping for the best. 

-

To Eddie’s surprise, Richie wasn’t sitting where he usually sat. In fact, he wasn’t anywhere to be found when he entered his classroom. A little part of him was worried, but he shook his head and buried the thought. He put his stuff down and looked forward as class started.

It was nice not having Richie constantly kick his desk throughout the period. He couldn’t help but get nervous, when he didn’t walk through the door at all the whole class. Time seemed to pass by so slowly since his buddy in the back was gone. 

He ended up making it through Government and headed to his next few classes. It was still a little awkward walking around but when he saw Bill or Stan in the hallway it was nice to wave and have someone acknowledge him. 

Eddie decided to stop by his locker before second period to drop off his new and very heavy textbook so he wouldn’t have to carry it around. As he put in his combination that he wrote down on his hand last night, it was immediately slammed shut. Eddie looked at the hand responsible and dread poured through his body. 

A tall and quite frankly scary boy was looming over him with a group of kids standing behind him. Eddie wasn’t sure if he should say something or not. While he was thinking the boy pushed Eddie's chest lightly. Eddie was shocked a bit, but stood his ground, letting out a grunt, “What do you want dude?”

He laughed, “I heard you’re the new kid, and here I was, thinking it would be some fly chick but I am staring at an ugly little twink. So you listen here if I see you doing anything stupid,” He grabbed at Eddie’s shirt, bunching it into his fist, “I will send my friends after your tiny ass so fast. We don’t like fucking fairies.” 

Eddie was flabbergasted and his mouth was most likely catching flies at this point, “Uhm. Okay?” He regretted that horrible and awkward answer very fast when the boy pushed him to the floor. He laughed as Eddie babbled apologies and scrambled away. As he started to turn around he heard the maniac say, “You better fear the name Henry Bowers, kid.”

Eddie fumbled for his fanny pack zipper and wasted no time getting his inhaler out. He leaned against a wall of lockers and closed his eyes trying to calm down and breath. While he was doing this he didn’t realize Bill was walking towards him with a worried look on his face.

A warm hand touched Eddie’s shoulder which caused him to flinch and back away until he noticed it was his new friend. He smiled and looked at him, “Sorry Bill you scared me.” Bill dropped his hand and looked at Eddie’s current state wondering, “What the fuck happened to you?” He said bluntly.

“Some kid and his friends just pushed me around just now. I think his name was something like Bowers? It was hard to hear over the kids in the hallway.” He spoke quickly still being shaken up. Eddie put his inhaler back away and pushed himself off the locker trying to compose himself in front of his friend. He was already looking like a  _ loser _ .

Bill shook his head and hissed, “F-Fucking B-Bowers i-i-is the worst.” Eddie nodded.

“What’s his deal anyway? I didn’t do anything to him! Talk about an asshole.”

Bill explained that Bowers was the son of a cop that basically got away with anything in school. The most he’d ever been punished was getting some lunch detentions. Everyone seemed to hate him and he hated everyone. That’s one thing that people could agree on.

“H-He’s a piece o-o-of shit.” Bill lightly tapped Eddie’s shoulder with his fist playfully, “B-But m-m-most of the group has been r-roughened up b-by Bowers or s-s-someone from his group. I-It's b-because we’re losers.” He seemed to say the last bit with more pride than anything. Eddie wasn’t sure why he wasn’t upset about being a loser.

Being a loser was always the core reason why everything in his life went wrong, ranging from bullying to, well, looking the way he did. He was the poster child for a loser.

“Well I don’t know about you, but I don’t exactly plan on getting beat on by him. Is there any way of just avoiding him? He seems like a dickhead.” Eddie asked worryingly.

Bill wasn’t too well versed on Bowers but he said that he often hung out at the arcade in town with his buddies and drove around town making fun of the kids. So there wasn’t a real way of staying away from him unless you are with other people. 

That made sense to Eddie but made him a little worried about going out alone. He  _ did  _ have to make the trip to the new pharmacy soon. He’ll think of that later though, for now, he wanted to change the subject so he turned to what was piquing his interest before Bowers. 

“Richie wasn’t in first period today. Is he not here?” Eddie turned to Bill. 

Bill sighed dramatically, “G-God. No, he’s h-here. H-he’s probably a-at b-base.” Eddie looked at him confused, “Uhm what’s base? Is that code for some kind of special class or some shit? I knew his ass wasn’t actually in AP Government.” Eddie grunted the last part. He didn’t know why he was insulting him, it just came out.

Bill laughed lightly, “R-Richie’s actually s-smart he j-just m-m-makes stupid d-decisions. B-Base i-is our h-hide o-out n-near the s-school. W-We go there s-sometimes during l-lunch, b-but Richie uses it a-as a-a way t-to skip c-class.” Eddie tried to follow along, although it was frustrating when Bill got stuck on a word for a while. He nodded along regardless not wanting to be rude.

“Oh, that’s pretty sick dude! I’d love to see it sometime. I’m surprised you made something like that.” 

“W-Well B-Ben was the o-one that b-built t-the whole th-thing. W-We all added o-our own th-things to the s-space though.” Bill said proudly. Eddie thought it was adorable. 

“Well I do hope you guys clean this place, do you even know how gross it’ll get in there? Especially with a bunch of boys.” Eddie started to cringe at the thought of the germs that might reside there. Old habits of cleanliness do die hard when your parent makes it your whole life.

“N-No Beverly h-helps clean the p-place t-t-too.” He noticed a slight blush forming on his face when he mentioned this Beverly and smiled, “So who’s this Beverly girl?” Eddie nudged Bill’s shoulder gently and suggestively. 

“Y-You’ll know s-soon enough,” Bill whispered, obviously not liking the attention of the topic, so Eddie dropped it and giggled.

They walked and talked as Bill walked Eddie to his class just to make sure he knew where he was going. Although Bill mostly didn’t want Bowers messing with his new friend. Anyone in his group was to be protected by those also within it. They were together and bound by a blood oath. However, he won’t let Eddie know about that until later.

He won’t need to know about that this early. They had to make sure that he really wanted to be their friend first. Once he dropped Eddie off at his class, he wished him luck with it and waved goodbye. He was starting to like this kid. He seemed like a good addition to the loser club. Time will tell.

-

“I thought this was going to be some kind of tree-house. What the fuck is this?” Eddie was staring at a rusted old, and nasty looking door, covered with leaves. It was absolutely horrid.

“It looks like this hasn’t been touched in decades!” The group snickered and said, “It’s supposed to look like that! I made it so people wouldn’t think twice about going down here. So don’t complain! It’s nice inside you’ll see.”

Eddie shivered but patiently waited for the hatch door to be lifted. He was the first to climb down after encouraging applause from his friends. He grumbled and whined when his hands had to touch the nasty ladder that led into a dimly lit room. It took his eyes a bit to adjust to the darkness and he quickly took a look around.

It wasn’t a super big room in fact it was quite dinky. As he turned around, he yelped as he was met with a dark figure. They were laying in a hammock, the light barely reaching them. The person jumped and fell to the ground with a grunt at the sudden noise. 

“What the  _ actual  _ fuck?!” Eddie recognized the voice immediately, “I think I should be the one saying that! What are you doing laying in the dark?! You scared the shit out of me!” Eddie didn’t attempt to help him up not wanting to get germs on him. Richie was probably filthy even before he went down here.

“Well before you scared the living shit out of me I was taking a nice nap. Although, it was nice to hear you yelp... Maybe I should scare you more often Eds.” Richie teased and was up off the ground now starting to creep towards Eddie.

“I told you not to call me that dickhead! And if you even think of doing that you’ll regret it asshole!” Eddie grunted and pushed Richie when he started getting close to him. Richie laughed and let his head fall back from his fit.

“Oh no, I’m so scared what will I ever do!” Richie said sarcastically with a hint of laughter still in his voice. Eddie wasn’t having any of it and before he could make another comment he saw Stan coming down the ladder.

“Sorry to interrupt your quarrel, but Eddie, I would like to go over some things about our rules for this place. So can you listen? And Rich stop being unbearable. You’re gonna scare him away.” Stan never liked dealing with Richie’s stupid stunts, but who did? 

“Come over here.” Stan patted one of the cushions in the room. Bill, Ben, and Mike climbed down the ladder while they began talking and took their respective seats. 

He explained that anyone could come down in the hole at any time. “Richie made a wonderful example of that today.. stop skipping class no wonder your teachers hate you.” 

“Well you see I was just tired, and when I want sleep I get it. I  _ always  _ get what I want. Besides, I’m not doing anything important in my morning classes.” Eddie scoffed and looked over at Richie who was climbing back into the only visible hammock. 

“We actually talked about the project that we are going to assigned partners for tomorrow. From the looks of it, you don’t seem like a star student.” 

Richie looked over at Eddie, letting his head fall lazily out of the hammock, “Is this your roundabout way of telling me you want to be my partner  _ and _ tutor me Eds?” Eddie jumped up to go walk over to the loudmouthed boy but he was pushed back down by Stanley.

“Richie shut up! I’m not done explaining our territory to Eddie. So enough, let me speak!” Eddie could tell Stanley held an authoritative figure within the group. Almost like a dad. The boys all snickered and then silenced when they received glares from Stan. 

“So we can come here anytime, but do not invite anyone here. No one outside of the Losers Club is allowed here. Don’t ever even mention it. Another thing is..” He looked around at the shelves filled with comics and street signs. He got up to pick up a small round cylinder and handed it to Eddie.

He looked inside the can and saw a bright red and decorated women’s shower cap. He took it out and it felt weird in his hands, “No offense Stan, but what’s this for?” Stanley picked it out of his hands and stretched out the brim to put it on his head, “It’s so you don’t get spiders stuck in your hair while you’re down here!” Grandpa. Eddie stood corrected, definitely the old soul of the group. 

Richie scoffed from across the room, “I’m not scared of some fucking spiders.” Stanley and Mike laughed while Eddie cringed, “So you just.. sit there? Letting gross creatures crawl into your hair? That’s fucking gross dude even for you.” Stanley handed back the cap for Eddie to keep and put on.

Richie put his hand this his heart and sighed, “I would be upset by this, but Eds, I can not take you seriously when you look like that.” Ben put on some music with his portable radio. Stanley coughed and Eddie returned his attention back to their conversation, figuring that not fighting Richie was a good idea.

“So what else do I need to know to be able to reside in your humble abode?” Eddie asked.

“Well don’t leave food down here or else we’ll get even more bugs and small animals, but I am sure that you won’t have a problem cleaning up after yourself like some of us.” Stanley made it a point to stare at Richie and then at Ben.

Ben groaned, “It was only  _ one  _ time okay! Richie leaves his shit everywhere in here, plus I’m the one who built this whole place. I should get some sort of pass..” 

“Ya ya, fine. Richie has no excuse. Maybe our new recruit here will help us with that.” He smiled while Eddie frowned and shook his head, “That’s flattering but I am not going to be Richie’s maid or anyone’s maid! I will clean up after myself and simply make this space..  _ liveable _ .” He looked around at the dirty floor, the rusted ladder, and the trash-filled shelves. They had a lot of work to do. 

“The last rule is take turns with where you sit and chill. So don’t try and hog the hammock or swing like Mike and Richie do.” Eddie nodded and smiled, “Thanks for talking to me Stan. Well, all of you. I would be totally lost if you guys didn’t want to be my friends.” Richie let out a slew of awwws and cooed at Eddie. Eddie huffed and flipped him off from his seat. Which he was tired of sitting on.

He got up and stood in front of Richie, “I believe it’s my turn now.” Richie laughed and tilted his head, “I’m not moving. Even if it’s your first day here. So move along sweet cheeks.” Eddie scoffed and kicked Richie’s side making his swing side to side and bumping into the shelf next to him. While Richie was adjusting himself on the hammock, Eddie launched himself on top of the other boy, causing his breath to be knocked out of him violently.

They fumbled around Richie trying to claim his spot, but ultimately failing. 

“I don’t remember ever saying I liked to share.” Eddie stuck his tongue out at Richie and kicked the side of his face with his foot. Richie grumbled and decided to pinch Eddie’s lower leg. He pretended like he didn’t notice the baby soft skin that lay under his hand as he poked and prodded at the smaller boy. Richie found it funny how short and small Eddie was for a high schooler.

“Careful there Eddie, you’re giving me flashbacks to last night with your mom. We fooled around just like thi-” Eddie was tired of his stupid jokes and kicked him square in the face this time. Richie growled disapprovingly and yanked Eddie away from him. Richie stood out of the hammock and looked back at the winner of the battle, “You’re definitely a fighter Eds.” The word brat was what he wished to say, but the nice part of Richie’s brain ruled that out.

Richie started up the ladder and casually flipped Eddie off as he heard the usual, “Don’t call me that”.

Little did Eddie know that the rest of the boys’ minds sparked at Eddie and Richie’s little fight. They all looked at each other and smirked. Fully knowing what this called for. It was time for their favorite redhead to decide on the continued patronage of the newly recruited member. 


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! Oh my goodness... I don't know what to say I am so so sorry!! I disappeared for weeks without any updates.. )):  
This isn't much of an excuse but I was writing this in front of my friend and she kept making fun of me while I wrote and I got super self-conscious so I just stopped altogether... I just recently got back into the fandom that much more and really wanted to get back into the groove of things! I'm sorry if this chapter isn't up to par I simply just sorta kinda feel bad about my writing now haha.. But! Uhm I'll work through it! Thank you for all the support on the last chapter as well! <3 Have a wonderful day!! <3333

While Eddie began to hang out with the Losers Club more often, he struggled with the ongoing excuses he gave his mom for his absence of not being home. It started off easy with simple reasons for school, but when their hangouts ended up being every day after school Eddie began struggling. 

He was crossed between telling his mom about his new friends or telling his friends about his mother. Neither option sounded good in his mind. In his mind, both ended with a horrific outcome. 

However, the Losers might be understanding with mom jokes from mophead. He smiled at that and he wasn’t sure as to why. His smile faded as his mother walked into his room.

She saw him on his bed with his binder and work on his lap smiling to himself and dozing off, “Eddie-Bear? You look red.” She rushed up to him and placed her hand on his head. He swatted her hand away, “I’m fine ma. I was just thinking..”

She didn’t look pleased, “This might be a cold. I’ll go get your medication baby. You’ll be okay sweetie.” Eddie frowned. It’s like his mom didn’t even listen to him.

“Ma, I’m fine. I just told you I was dozing off! I don’t need to take anything.” She shook her head and began to raise her voice, “Honey you don’t know what you’re saying. You will not speak to me like this!” Eddie’s head fell onto his bed as he listened to his mom continue on with another one of her rants.

“You will come home immediately after school this whole week! No more of this talking to your teachers about clubs after school either.” She then stormed out of his room.

Eddie groaned and ran both hands through his hair. He was so tired of this. His house was always so tense and he constantly felt like he was choking for air. He didn’t even feel comfortable in his own room. Eddie’s mind wandered to how he felt when he was lazing around in the hideout.

He loved how loud he could be with his friends, and how they listened to him when he had something to say. At first, he felt a bit weird joining in a group of friends that had known each other for so long, but somehow it was like he was a missing cog in their working machine.

Eddie put his homework and binder back in his book bag not bothering whether it was finished. Another thing he noticed about the Losers was that they never stressed over minor things like Eddie did. Being late wasn’t a bother and neither was skipping class or doing something rebellious like building a hideout in the fucking ground. 

They were a quirky bunch, but regardless he felt happy around them. Something he was glad he found so soon after his move.

-

Mr. Simon, Eddie’s first period AP Government teacher was passing out the rubric for their next project. It wasn’t going to be presented to the class, but it must be explained to the teacher once it’s finished.

“I will be assigning partners like I said yesterday. Here are the people who will be working together.” Mr. Simon pulled out a piece of paper from his desk and began to list off the names.

Eddie was nervous about whether or not he’d have to work with someone he didn’t know. He didn’t exactly talk to anyone else besides the losers and no one had attempted to talk to him once he found his clique. 

“Sarah and Ollie, Sophie and Carli, Carter and Jess..” Mr. Simon continued and Eddie waited patiently for his name to be called. “...And finally Richie and Eddie. You will have two days of in-class time to finish this and then you’ll have to find time outside of class to finish this. Creativity will win you points so do not slack people! You may begin.”

Disappointment could be shown on Eddie’s face as he turned around to the smug grin on Richie’s face. He sighed and opened his mouth to begin to run his ideas by his partner until he interrupted him, like always, “Ah Ah Ah. So pretty boy how are you this fine morning.”

He looked at him in a way Eddie couldn’t describe, “What does it matter to you? And shut up don’t call me that dickhead.” Eddie swatted away Richie’s hand after an attempt to poke his cheek.

“Sorry does that upset you? Because compliments like that really got your mom going last night.” Eddie slammed his papers down on the table and look straight into Richie’s eyes. He furrowed his brows, “Let’s just get this done okay? I need to get a good grade on this alright? Can you just drop it for the next thirty minutes? Please?”

Richie ran a hand through his curls and leaned back in his chair. He put his hand up to his forehead imitating a salute, “Aye Aye Captain!” Eddie rolled his eyes and looked down at the rubric to see what they had to do.

“Here just let me write down what we need to do and I’ll give you instructions, okay?” Eddie grabbed his pencil and started to furiously write. He didn’t understand why his friend got him so upset. If Stan were to do imitations like that he would laugh but with Richie, he seemed to just want to push him around.

It’s not that he didn’t like Richie he just didn’t know how to act around him. It’s like he’s a total other species from his other friends. Eddie wasn’t sure what made so special and just downright annoying.

Either way, Eddie wasn’t going to let that ruin his chances of getting a good grade on the project so he pushed away his thoughts and began a plan for their work.

Richie stretched out his legs under the desk, bumping into Eddie’s chair on the way, “I’ll just sit here and look sexy until then.” All Eddie could do was grumble. His face burned because of something he could not explain.

-

“So are we not going to talk about how Eddie has perfectly cut sandwiches every day?” Richie laughed as Eddie pulled out the container that held his main meal.

They were at lunch and like always Richie sat next to Eddie so he had the best angle to fuck with his favorite uptight boy. 

“Fuck off dickwad. At least I’m not a garbage disposal like you.” Eddie smacked Richie’s hand that attempted to poke at his food.

Ben laughed from across the table, “That’s why he’s called Trashmouth around the school. Well, one of the reasons...” The group snickered and Richie put his hand to his heart and dramatically sighed. Ben kicked his leg under the table which then prompted everyone to start kicking Richie.

He groaned at the sudden attack, “Guys! What did I ever do to you to deserve this horrible treatment?” 

“Well for starters that time when you made us all sneak into that horrible frat party last year.,” Mike mumbled and kicked Richie again.

Richie swatted his hand in front of his face and rolled his eyes. “Oh please like that even ended up being so bad! Bev and I got so shitfaced together you can’t tell me that wasn’t fun!”

Stan laughed at the memory, “Okay sure it might have been fun for you two, but the rest of us didn’t exactly get in on all of that. I was the one that had to drive your sorry asses home!” 

Eddie couldn’t believe they did such a thing. What would they have done if the police came to the house? It’s not that he wasn’t too surprised though. 

He furrowed his brows while in thought, “Wait who’s Bev? I heard Bill talk about her as well. Does she go here as well?”

The Losers quieted down a bit, the mood suddenly feeling a little heavier. 

“N-No she moved j-just last year actually. She’s in the town over though. We still see her p-p-pretty often.” Bill said and raised his eyes at Stan to continue the explanation.

“That’s kind of what we wanted to talk to you about.” He said and the group seemed to begin staring at Eddie. 

Eddie tilted his head slightly and asked, “You wanted to tell me what?” He wasn’t too used to his friends being so serious and it was making him anxious. It was always fun and jokes with them so this seemed so foreign.

Stan looked around and leaned in to whisper towards his friend, “Well I can’t say much here or else people will hear. We-” He gestured to the group, “have a sort of pact. We started it when we were around fourteen when we made it.”

Eddie nodded, still not quite understanding his point just yet. Stanley continued, “Basically it’s to never forget each other and no matter what happens we will always protect one another.” 

“Isn’t that what close friends do anyhow?” He wasn’t too sure about this whole thing. Stan shook his head and simply put out his left hand onto the lunch table. Eddie gasped and went to touch it.

His skin was morphed and was almost scar-like down the palm. Eddie’s fingers bumped over the rugged palm. His hand was pushed off of Stanley’s when Richie bumped into his side.

“Eds if you are so willing to hold Stan the Man’s hand because of a baby scar then by all means.” He then held out his left hand to reveal a similar scar. Eddie looked up at his friends and they had their palms facing out and towards him.

“W-What the fuck happened? Is this some kind of disease? I’ve never seen anything like this... Wait no Richie don’t touch me!” He leaned away from Richie with disgust.

Mike shook his head, “No it’s not a disease Eddie. It’s a mark we all gave ourselves when we made the pact. It symbolizes our togetherness.”

Eddie was filled with a lot of questions but before he could ask about anything else he was cut off by the end of lunch bell. 

The losers all packed up and said their goodbyes, “See you later babes!” Richie rushed over to Stan to slap him on his lower back causing him to yelp. 

“Dude stop that hurt!” Richie laughed and ran down the hall after Stan tried to swing back at him.

-

The losers decided to meet at their usual spot in the ground. Eddie was a bit nervous to go because of the events that took place last night with his mom but decided to go regardless. He figured she couldn’t do much to him anyway. He could always go back to school the next day and see his friends.

“So when’s she gonna get here?” Mike asked looking between Bill and Ben causing both to shrug.

“Sh-Should be a-a-any minute now.” They fell into an unusual silence. Eddie swung his feet off the side of the hammock he rightfully claimed as his. Richie wasn’t there yet, so he was glad he got his favorite spot. He somehow didn’t feel as victorious without actually fighting Richie for it.

Eddie could tell that the group was sort of shaped around Richie’s loud motor mouth, but he was content with the comfortable lull. He let his head fall back onto the hammock and kept swinging.

Ben switched on the small radio they had. Eddie wondered how they received any station in the ground, but swayed to the music regardless. 

After a few minutes passed by, the group enjoying their quiet time, they heard footsteps above them. There was laughing and giggling as two figures open the hatch. Eddie’s eyes strained to adjust to the light coming from the split in the ceiling. Or was it the ground? Eddie didn’t know.

“Time to get this motherfucking party started losers!” Richie yelled while huffing down the ladder.

“Hell yeah! Let’s get this started!” A beautiful skinny woman with fiery red hair comes tumbling down the stairs as well. Somehow Eddie’s breath caught in his throat at the sight of her. 

She must have heard his tiny sound and looked right in his direction. So quick she could have been a hawk, a phoenix to be exact. A blazing red-haired goddess whose face glowed in the light beams shining from the sky. 

She flipped her curly bangs out of her face and smirked, “Now who's this?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again thank you for reading! I will work very hard from here on out! I just kinda had to force this one out... Have a wonderful day loves <333

**Author's Note:**

> So this is my first fic and I am hella nervous,,, Please be patient while I figure this all out. I also hope to improve my writing through this as well,, anyways I love my boys and I couldn't get the thought of a slightly emo bad boi Richie so I had to do it myself. Let's hope this doesn't completely suck , ,h h h anyways enjoy loves <3


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